Should Be Dancin' (Leila)

[Leila Gold]

He was willing to set that up! She might actually get to talk to them! She was so happy to be more a part of this, his life, that her whole face set to glowing. "Really? That would be great! I would really, really like to meet your parents, even if it's just online. And then they can talk to you more, too!" Really this was the best plan for everyone.

Her face fell briefly as she thought of the history of South Africa, though her heart warmed at the knowledge that his parents would appreciate her dedication. Hopefully they would like her too. "No country is perfect. That's why it's so important for us to keep working at it." She shrugged. She knew that the problems with South Africa were a lot more recent and extreme than anything in the United States, but there was always the potential anywhere. Oppression was worldwide, and while she couldn't do anything about it in Terrence's home country, she could do something here.

She listened to his explanation about his brother, but sensing there was more coming she simply angled her head and waited. And nodded as he continued. She reached over to grab his hand, squeezing it. "Okay," she said. "I can understand. Sorry if it seemed like I was pushing you. I just want to know more about you, see if maybe your parents would like me the same way my parents liked you."

In fact, her mother still gushed about that sweet boy you had over here last Christmas, as awkward as it sometimes seemed. And maybe she wanted a little of that attention, and a chance to prove people wrong who made assumptions about mixed relationships. "We don't have to push anything, but I would like to meet him sometime, if I get the chance." She still believed that she could be the evidence otherwise, that not all people were bad. She had to believe.

"Do you want to try dancing again?" she asked after they had rested a while. "We don't have to go all the way onto the dance floor. It might be easier if we practiced a bit in a less crowded area."

[Dr. Terrence Jordan]

Leila was correct, there was always more to be done for justice and equality, and no country had a clean record. But not everyone could be cavalier about that fact. His brother certainly hadn't proved very capable of shrugging off the oppression they had lived under. Even Terrence couldn't always, although he tried.

"I am sure my parents will like you," He assured her. Perhaps they would take some convincing, but she was so earnest and committed to justice that he thought they would come around. Amos, on the other hand, was a more difficult sell.

"I do want you to meet him." Even if he wasn't exactly in a hurry, because he didn't want to deal with the fall out, "I want my family to meet the people who are important to me. But I want to talk to him about it first, so that he has an idea of you as an individual first. If he doesn't take to you right away it....it won't be against you personally, but he sometimes....says things without thinking them through."

The request to begin dancing again was a welcome interruption from the rather stressful reflections upon his family, and he nodded gratefully. "That sounds like a wonderful idea, particularly the part about less crowded." He agreed, scanning the floor for someplace with fewer people. "Perhaps this time I will even spare your feet."

[Leila Gold]

She smiled, reassured. Of course she naturally expected to like Mr. and Mrs. Jordan. They had raised an excellent son, so they must be amazing. Also, Leila just liked people. Surely they could all get along. "Excellent. We can share recipes. And by that I mean I'll actually learn how to cook and your mother can sigh over my skill at burning oatmeal."

She nodded, listening to his explanation of his brother. "Okay. That makes sense. And I promise that when I do meet him I'll do my best to keep from taking anything personally. I know I'm...I'm not what anyone really expected. And it's got to be hard. So I can wait." For now. "Though I admit it all kind of makes me glad I'm an only child. It feels so much easier." Never having experienced siblings, she couldn't imagine what they would be like in actuality.

"Over there." She pointed toward a spot that was clearing up a bit as a few couples headed off to get their own refreshments. "You're getting better, you know, even from when we first got here. But the even better part about a less crowded area is less having to concentrate on not running into others." Not to mention the lessened challenge of developing a breeze that wouldn't bother other people...thankfully most of this was instinctual by this point, but Leila still tried to make the situation as easy as she could.

As they stepped out she closed her eyes tight and pinched the bridge of her nose briefly to relieve some of the tension building up. Then she smiled again at Terrence. "Okay, so I know I do a lot of talking. Your turn. Tell me about your day. Anything exciting happen?"

[Dr. Terrence Jordan]

Terrence certainly didn't feel like he was improving, although he knew from experience with other activities that improvement frequently took time. That didn't change the fact that he was currently convinced he would never be able to dance.

"Oh, I'm definitely getting better," He agreed with a wry smile, "I think I only stepped on your toes every five counts instead of every ten."

Although he actually had no idea what time the music playing was in, and he wouldn't have even been able to hazard an educated guess had he concentrated on counting out the rhythm.

"My day...." He mused, placing a hand on her waist as they returned to the dance floor, changing places with the couples retiring for this song. "Had to hop over to the emergency room, someone overdosed on sleeping pills. And I've seen a few alcoholics coming through lately. You would think Pilot Ridge was a party center." He shook his head in helpless dismay. "I feel as if I should join you in your politics, if only to remind people that too much alcohol is bad for their health."

[Leila Gold]

"And that," she said, "is a two hundred percent improvement. Well done." Or at least it was something like that. She'd never been the best with numbers. "With a rate like this you'll be dancing like a pro in only a few weeks." Not that she expected anything like that, but she did believe that if they kept at it he could learn to be on the beat next time. Or eventually.

Leila managed a wry grin. "You mean they don't know that one already?" She sighed and shook her head. "Was it a bunch of teenagers again?" She hated it when it was teenagers. That just meant so many more years of potential abuse and failure. "At least they had you there to save them. Don't go into politics with me; you do so much more good in the hospital, saving lives. And I'll just see if I can work something into my own campaign."

Not like she didn't have enough other platforms to worry about. She had to appeal to all the minorities, and while she was relying heavily on the women's vote she couldn't depend on it to get her into office.

"Step, step," she said, trying to guide Terrence from the follow position. "And if you hold here and here, then pull me in," she said, demonstrating as she went, "then I can lean against you and dip here." She wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pecked his cheek. "Don't worry, you'll get there."

Spinning out she felt a rush of blood to her head and stopped for a moment in the middle of the dance floor, dizzy. "Hold up, dizzy spell," she said, holding up a finger. She frowned and pinched the bridge of her nose again, squinting her eyes closed tight against the migraine. "Just a moment and I'll be good."

She opened her eyes again and smiled. "All right, I'm better. Ready to keep going?"

[Dr. Terrence Jordan]

"It wasn't teenagers," Terrence was glad of that, at least. While sometimes his patients were teenagers, it seemed that Hammel kept a fairly good reign on its students. Either that or Hammel had its own methods of dealing with overdosing.

Regardless, he was somewhat relieved to say that he didn't see too many teens in the emergency room. "No, Pilot Ridge is the party hub for the over forty crowd. I suppose the teenagers are too busy with school."

He allowed her to move his hands, only biting back a sigh as she spun away again; it was much nicer to have her close.

"Perhaps I need to send my patients Salsa dancing, so they have something else to occupy their time..." He suggested, though only half serious. It was only an illusion that Pilot Ridge had little to do; if one looked hard enough there really was more to small town life than drinking your life away. But it wasn't that easy to convince alcoholics. There could have been a multitude of choices and they still would choose to drink instead.

Those thoughts were chased away, however, by her pronouncement of a dizzy spell. He obediently halted, mouth pulled down into a worried frown even after she announced that she was ready to continue.

"Are you sure?" He asked hesitantly. "We can sit out longer if you need to."

[Leila Gold]

"So what does that make us?" Leila asked. "We're not teens, busy with school. Not the older generation, partying all night long, weird as that sounds. What, does that make us the responsible group?" Then something else hit her, and she burst out laughing. "Sorry," she said, looking up at Terrence. "I just was imagining Blue partying. Isn't it one of the most ridiculous things ever?"

She was about to agree with his idea of having everyone try dancing--fun, healthy, and a way to keep occupied for those who actually had time for an outside life more than once a month--when she felt dizzy. But once she'd cleared up she shook her head and smiled a bit.

"No, I'm good. It's not really like sitting down will make everything better. It's just a little side effect. Nobody's power-perfect." She moved in again and stepped into the close dance position. This way she could lean a little more on her date and let him do more of the work. "Is it bad if I'm wishing for a strong painkiller right now?" she tried to joke.

She wasn't really able to keep the breeze flowing in a well-organized fashion, so instead there were spastic spurts of wind throughout the room. Well, hopefully some of the dancers would enjoy it.

[Dr. Terrence Jordan]

"I think that makes us the professionals who pay taxes to support both the young and the old." Terrence mused. He didn't mind that system, though; the younger generations always helped those that came after until they could care for themselves, and those that came before when they no longer could. He certainly hoped that the younger generation would help care for him when he became too frail to carry on.

The mental image of Cobalt partying, however, was ridiculous enough to disrupt that train of thought. "Isn't that one of the signs of the end times? I seem to recall that being in Revelations, right after the seven headed beast."

And then conversation turned serious again. He didn't want to reprimand her about her joke, although he thought it was in somewhat poor taste, and his expression shifted from laughter to concern. "Are you sure you're all right? If it's power related perhaps you should let the breeze die down then....?"

There was no need for her to over-exert herself, certainly not when they were supposed to be out having fun.

[Leila Gold]

"And those in government, don't forget. The police, firefighters..." She mused for a moment on the fact that her future income might depend on taxpayers' dollars. That was terrifying. Talk about feeling responsible for whatever you spend. But then, of course, she was sidetracked into other lines of thought.

"Something like that," she said, laughing. "And then fire will rain from the heavens and wormwood will pollute all the water." Honestly, Cobalt would party on the day pigs flew, and not in planes either.

Holding her head, she waved a hand in slight annoyance. "Yeah, I'm fine." She rubbed her eyes and looked up. "It's not about letting it die down. The wind finds me. It's how I control it. It's...it's a little hard to explain, but unless I'm asleep I just kind of always...anyway. I'll be all right. Just give me a moment."

She hated when it got this bad. And she wished that she wasn't having such a tough moment in front of Terrence, but it was bound to happen sometime.

"Really, it's okay." Still, though, she found herself groping out of habit for her purse. Bad habit. She pulled out a bottle of Tylenol and gave Terrence a sheepish grin. "Don't worry, it's the only dose of the night."

She filled up with a large swig of water and took Terrence's hands. "Was there anything else you wanted to talk about, since it looks like we won't be doing any intense dancing for a while?"

[Dr. Terrence Jordan]

The problem with people who had once abused a substance was that it was rather difficult to quite trust them with even ordinary, safe amounts; it was so easy to slip back into old habits, a fact Terrence knew from work experience.

He didn't want Leila to end up in the hospital again; he didn't want that for anyone, but he cared about her on a more intense level than he did for most of his patients. Former patient, in this case, but the underlying point remained the same.

"We could go somewhere else?" He suggested tentatively, deciding that she was correct in her assessment regarding the dancing. "Perhaps go out for dessert?"

He was rather fond of desserts.

"Maybe we can discuss whether or not we'll ever hold another book club meeting. It seems like all the members are so busy recently, which is a shame. I was looking forward to that being a regular event."

[Leila Gold]

Leila was trying so hard, and she did still feel the twinge of guilt when she took some Tylenol. She tried to regulate it. And it helped seeing the worry on Terrence's face--she'd remember how much she didn't like him to worry and it often stopped her from taking it when she didn't need to.

Much as she regretted leaving the dance floor, she knew it was probably a good choice to leave. She could only exert herself so much. "Dessert sounds nice. There's that ice cream place nearby, or we could find a restaurant and try to get some cake or cobbler." Leila was fond of sweets herself, though not as much as some people she knew.

Leila groaned. "Yes, well. Weren't we just talking about this ourselves? I wish we could start it up again, but how are we all supposed to fit it into our lives? Besides, I'll be honest, it was a little strange before. I think I was the youngest person in the entire group, and you next. Not that I don't mind hanging out with older people, but...well. Interests are different, I guess."

She sighed and rubbed her face as they stepped outside into the fresh air. With all the space around her she was able to release a little tension. She took a deep breath to clear her head some more and then smiled at Terrence. "Did you have an idea for a book? Even if we couldn't get everyone else together, the two of us could try something."